I wasn’t expecting to be playing Diablo IV, but I was gifted the game (to try and get me to at least give the entire game a fair shake – which again, I’m no longer a huge fan of the ARPG genre/Diablo franchise). Regardless, the following is my initial launch day impressions.
Unlike D3, this launch (on PC) went exceptionally smooth. I actually was in-game 10 minutes before the official launch time (this was also the case during the betas where they opened up the server 10-15 minutes before the official time). And even when I exited out just to restart the client, I didn’t experience any queues. So chalk up a huge win for getting this part of the early access launch correct in terms of capacity planning.
As for the game play, no surprises here with Act I since many of us played that during the beta weekends. Part way through though, I headed off to Scosglen to start another part of the main story quest in Act II (just to see how this non-linear questing worked) before continuing the rest of Act I. Again, no surprises with how this was handled (they’ve compartmentalized various parts of the MSQ). I’m pretty much focusing on completing the campaign before I start going around exploring to find the Lilith altars (and the complete each regions renown). My play speed is at a semi-casual level (from Act II onwards, I’m paying attention to the story and cutscenes). And while I am in each region, I am trying to clear the fog of war on the map as much as possible. I completed Act II (which was really short) and am now in the Dry Steppes region for Act III (am at level 26 as of this writing). Overall, the campaign has been “meh” (I’m hoping it picks up in the final acts).
Game world wise (past Fractured Peaks), each zone hasn’t been exactly memorable. Yes, there are different biomes, but I’m speaking more about actual memorable places like a Caldeum, Bastion’s Keep, Westmarch, etc. Basically, the zones are huge for the sake of being huge (I was hoping there would be more “grand designs” for some of the main hubs; maybe the level 30+ ones will get better, but I am not there yet).
Drops wise, it’s been ok (I finally got my first legendaries while running dungeons for some of the sorceress aspects I want for my leveling build). Rare drops to this point (the “better” ones that I can salvage for veiled crystals) have been REALLY rare though which has made imprinting legendary aspects really slow going (so my leveling build is still only partially usable). The low level loot hunt is still a lot more fun than D3 ever was though.
When I reach actual end game, I’m not sure if that grind will be appealing to me since as I’ve written before, I’m now very much on the casual potato end of the spectrum. I suppose the Paragon board system will be part of the determining factor in keeping my interest level going. But we’ll see once I get there. As for now, I’d rate the game a 7.5 out of 10.
